Drop time and Fruit Maturity Chart
There is a time when the fruit matures, a period when the fruit will hang, and abscission occurs, causing fruit to fall free from the tree and be palatable to a deer. Some fruits can hold their integrity on the tree and remain palatable even through the freezing and thawing. The following maturity and drop time chart does just that. Drop times can vary depending on location, elevation, year’s weather, and most importantly, bloom time or degree days. This chart is an excellent guideline.
Don’t Overthink The Drop Times of Fruit!
As a general rule of thumb, the drop time will back up a few weeks as you take a tree south from us unless you’re going higher in elevation or a few weeks later as you take them exceptionally north into higher elevations. This chart is based on pears blooming in late April, apples blooming in early May, persimmons blooming in mid-June, and chestnut trees in late June-early July, to give you an idea. We are located in central Pennsylvania in a plant hardiness zone of 5b/6a and an elevation of 811′. Abscission is very interesting. A fruit can fully ripen to taste at a given location, yet abscission may not fully occur, causing the fruit to hang later depending on the factors above. The information is above if you want to figure out your drop times. As I said above a general rule of thumb is a few weeks behind to the south and a week or so late to the north from our location.
Please click on the image to view the full drop time chart.
